This director loves making friends.

"A Bittersweet Life" is performing very well at the box office. In just two weeks, it has grossed over 1500 million. Win's Entertainment's partners in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, South Korea, and Little Life have once again raised their bids for the film's rights.

In particular, South Korea and Little Days offered prices comparable to those for blockbuster movies starring Hong Kong superstars. Although these prices were still far from matching those of movies starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan, they were still very tempting for Win's Entertainment.

This further strengthened the Xiang brothers' resolve to continue investing in Qin Keqing's films.

Based on the current box office trend, it's almost certain that "A Bittersweet Life" will surpass 2000 million in box office revenue, and Win's Entertainment certainly wants even more.

In addition, in just five days, Stephen Chow's movie "Flirting Scholar," which Win's Entertainment values ​​most, will be released on July 1st. At that time, the box office of "A Bittersweet Life" will definitely be affected to some extent.

In order to maximize box office revenue before July 1st, Win's Entertainment held a large celebration banquet for "A Bittersweet Life" on June 26th in the private banquet hall of the Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

Yong Sheng invited reporters, media outlets, and big names and celebrities from the film and television industry in an effort to create sufficient influence.

"Celebrating 'A Bittersweet Life' winning the Camera d'Or, the Jury Prize, and the Catholic Special Contribution Award at Cannes, and surpassing 1500 million at the box office!"

Win's Entertainment hung up this celebratory red banner in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel a day in advance.

While the word "unparalleled" is a bit of an exaggeration, if we only consider the number of Cannes awards, "A Bittersweet Life" is indeed "unparalleled".

……

Before coming to Hong Kong, Peng Jiesi thought that her father's position in Hong Kong would be similar to that in the UK—on the surface, many things required caution and leeway to avoid being caught by competitors, and being questioned today or impeached tomorrow...

But after only a week in Hong Kong, she realized how wrong she had been.

Even the Queen here doesn't have as much freedom and authority as her own father!

Peng Jiesi couldn't understand it. What era is this? How could there still be such a place?

Her father held immense power here, encompassing administrative, judicial, legislative, and military authority, with seemingly no constraints whatsoever.

Isn't this dictatorship?

Peng Jiesi originally planned to visit Qin Keqing on her second day in Hong Kong, but from the second day onwards, it was an endless stream of banquets, invitations, and visits...

They couldn't possibly deal with all the powerful figures and their peers from wealthy families here.

She was initially quite unaccustomed to it.

Peng Jiesi inquired about the backgrounds of those who came to visit her, and found that they were all from extremely wealthy families, ranking among the top even in England.

In England, she and her father would have to greet such families with smiles, even if the families didn't necessarily give them any face.

However, here, she could sense that the children of those families were all somewhat... fawning over her, talking in accordance with her wishes, deliberately trying to please her, and unconsciously lowering their posture.

Peng Jiesi finds these social engagements annoying, but her father insists she adapt, jokingly saying he needs the people behind these people to push things forward and asking for her help.

Having no other choice, Peng Jiesi could only passively accept the invitations and banquets.

She also wanted to go back to school.

"I really want to go find Qin Keqing."

"No wonder my older sister didn't want to come to Hong Kong."

At 2:30 p.m., Li Peiyi, who had a fairly good conversation with Peng Jiesi, arrived at the Governor's Mansion on time to pick her up and take her to the Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea.

Peng Jiesi knew some things about Li Peiyi. The third daughter of the so-called four major families, the Li family, graduated from Brunel University London, which was not far from Peng Jiesi's university. This was also the reason why she had a good impression of Li Peiyi.

Upon arriving at the Peninsula Hotel, they originally intended to drive into the hotel's private parking lot and then take the internal passageway directly to their private room.

However, as the car passed in front of the hotel lobby, Peng Jiesi saw a long red banner hanging there.

She didn't recognize traditional Chinese characters, but she did recognize the words "Sweet Life" because it was the title of Qin Keqing's movie, and she specifically memorized those words.

"Kylie, what's that?"

Peng Jiesi pointed to the long red banner and asked Li Peiyi.

Following Peng Jiesi's directions, Li Peiyi looked over and couldn't help but smile, saying, "It's a celebration party for a movie called 'A Bittersweet Life.' The movie won three awards at Cannes, and its box office has now exceeded 1500 million. They probably want to hold the celebration party here."

"A victory celebration banquet?"

Peng Jiesi suddenly had an idea. Qin Keqing, the director of "Sweet Life," would definitely attend the celebration banquet. What a coincidence!

A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. "Kylie, do you know when the celebration party is being held?"

……

The celebration banquet was very lively.

Many media reporters came, as well as a large number of film and television industry bigwigs and celebrities, showing that Win's Entertainment has a lot of influence.

Qin Keqing was a little unaccustomed to such a lively atmosphere. As the director of the film, he was undoubtedly one of the focal points of the day.

"You're the star of the banquet. So many big shots are here. Shall I introduce them to you one by one?"

With one arm around Qin Keqing's shoulder and the other holding a wine glass, Zhou Xingxing swung the glass halfway around and asked Qin Keqing.

"You have a good relationship with these big shots?"

Qin Keqing asked with a smile.

"Uh, it's alright, it's alright."

"So, I'll really let you introduce me to someone?"

"Never mind, the weather's so nice today, let's just have a drink."

"Ha ha……"

Although there was no introduction from Stephen Chow, Qin Keqing still got to know a few big names in the Hong Kong film and television industry. Most of these people took the initiative to get to know Qin Keqing.

Have a drink, chat for a bit, and we'll consider ourselves acquaintances when we meet again.

"Ah Qing, what's your decision?"

After entertaining some important figures, Xiang Huasheng came to Qin Keqing's side.

Before Xiang Huasheng arrived, Qin Keqing had been looking for "friends" and had a few candidates in mind. However, she didn't know what kind of friends she needed to be to withstand the pressure from Yongsheng.

Sigh, if only Peng Jiesi had come to Hong Kong earlier, she wouldn't be in such a passive position.

So, let's try to delay it for now. If we really can't delay any longer, then we'll think of another way.

"Xiang Sheng."

Qin Keqing first smiled and nodded at Xiang Huasheng, just about to delay a little longer, when suddenly his eyes lit up.

"Mr. Xiang, I was just about to have a talk with you."

Qin Keqing straightened her back a bit. "Let's put the new movie aside for now. I just want to ask President Xiang, why did Yong Sheng renege on our agreement?"

"Um?"

Xiang Huasheng was stunned. First, Qin Keqing's tone was somewhat accusatory, which made him very uncomfortable. Second, what had Yongsheng gone back on its word?

"What do you mean?"

Qin Keqing smiled; he knew Xiang Huasheng wouldn't find anything wrong with the supplementary agreement.

"Before the 'Sweet Life' project was initiated, we signed an agreement that the copyrights for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, South Korea, and 'Little Life' would belong to Win's Entertainment, while the copyrights for Europe and America would belong to me. Is that alright?"

Xiang Huasheng frowned. "That's what's stipulated in the agreement, but didn't you sign a supplementary agreement?"

"I didn't sign it!"

Qin Keqing immediately retorted, "Isn't it better to follow the terms of the agreement? Besides, there are copyrights and interests outside the agreement, which are unresolved matters. In that case, each party owns half of the copyrights and interests. That's the default rule."

Xiang Huasheng stopped frowning. He adjusted his glasses and looked at Qin Keqing, seemingly taking a serious look at this rising director from the mainland for the first time.

"Young people, being young is a good thing, but being impetuous is not necessarily a good thing."

He assumed Qin Keqing had become arrogant after gaining fame, so he smiled and whispered, "You've only been in Hong Kong for half a year since you came from the mainland, so you may not understand Hong Kong. Believe me, if you reject Win's Entertainment today, tomorrow, and in the future, no film company will dare to invest in your movies."

Is this a threat?

"Haha, a threat?"

Xiang Huasheng shook his head, picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said, "You're not worthy."

"Jessie, come here."

Qin Keqing waved to Peng Jiesi, who was waiting a short distance away for the conversation to end.

Peng Jiesi walked over with a bright smile and light steps, and Li Peiyi, who was beside her, quickly followed.